On Friday, I left work early so I could early vote with James and get ready for the tricker treaters! I hadn't purchased my candy yet because I wanted to catch a last minute candy sale. I was in the best mood.
That mood quickly turned sour as we pulled into the Randalls parking lot to find the early voting line wrapped AROUND the block and the parking lot to be one big traffic jam. James drove back to work and I drove across the street to HEB.
I wasn't grumpy because I didn't vote, but because it was James last chance before he left for his trip....and he didn't get to...he had to go back to work. I actually don't like to early vote, I LOVE voting on election day....it just feels more patriotic and I love the excitement that surrounds the first Tuesday after the first Monday of every other November.
Well when I walked into HEB....I saw the HUGE display of apples and smelled all the cinnamon goodness from those broom looking things, which really don't make any sense to me....but it did put me right back into the spirit of Halloween! I decided I needed a craft project for the afternoon. We weren't going to a Halloween party OR dressing up for the tricker treaters..so I needed something.
I wasn't grumpy because I didn't vote, but because it was James last chance before he left for his trip....and he didn't get to...he had to go back to work. I actually don't like to early vote, I LOVE voting on election day....it just feels more patriotic and I love the excitement that surrounds the first Tuesday after the first Monday of every other November.
Well when I walked into HEB....I saw the HUGE display of apples and smelled all the cinnamon goodness from those broom looking things, which really don't make any sense to me....but it did put me right back into the spirit of Halloween! I decided I needed a craft project for the afternoon. We weren't going to a Halloween party OR dressing up for the tricker treaters..so I needed something.
I decided to make chocolate & caramel covered apples for the neighbors. We usually don't get a ton of tricker treaters, just the kids on our block. I decided that I would have the candy for the kids, but give all the parents a little treat too! It was so easy and came out so cute that I decided I needed to share it with everyone.
Chocolate & Caramel Apples
Set the apples on a greased cookie sheet. Next time I do this, I won't use the foil..it ripped easily.
Mix all your ingredients together. I got the cheap caramel apple mix from Randalls (99 cents and it comes with the popsicle sticks) The only thing missing from this picture is the sugar.
Boil the mixture together until it reaches "soft ball" stage ~242F on a candy thermometer. I randomly had one.
It takes a while to reach that temperature, so I went ahead and stuck the sticks in the apples.
After waiting 10 minutes for the caramel to harden a bit, I got my stations ready.
Time to cover the apples!
It gets a bit messy, but it hardens quickly! The nuts didn't stick too well to the caramel directly.
Then... I did the same thing with chocolate. I used almond bark (the same chocolate you use for cake balls). As soon as I covered the apple in chocolate, I dipped the apple into a bowl of nuts.
After I let them cool in the fridge, I wrapped them in clear plastic bags and tied them with raffia with a little "Happy Halloween" note.
As the tricker treaters came to the door, I let the kids grab the candy and then I brought out my little tray with the apples for the parents...and let them choose (nuts or no nuts)!!! They were SUPER cute and went over so well with the neighbors! I think this will become a tradition!
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